Matryoshka: The Nesting Doll
by Bat Lorena
Summary: They're quite similar.  It's funny how I never really payed attention until now...
1. Chapter 1

"I-Iva-an s-sir…"

I didn't need to turn around to see Raivis shaking. I held back a sigh and look at him over my shoulder, ignoring the tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. This was perfectly normal. "Da?"

"Y-you, umm, g-g-g-ot a le-letter fr-rom M-Miss Ukr-rai-Ukraine a-a-and—"

"Look, I can't understand you." I knelt down to meet his eyes, violet to blue. This seemed to terrify him, but at least he spoke normally then.

"Miss Ukraine sent a letter to you!" he averted his eyes and thrust a small white envelope into my hands. "Here! I have to go help Eduard do something and umm Toris' car broke down or I'll be going now I'm sorry!"

"… Wait a moment!" I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Raivis looked like he was really going to cry now. I smiled. "Can you ask Toris to take a message to Ukraine for me?"

"B-but his car i-is b-b-broken…" Raivis whimpered.

I tightened my grip slightly. He had lied about _that_, it was obvious. "Oh, I'm sure he can find a way. Ask for me."

The second my fingers relaxed, Raivis was gone. I stared at the spot he had been standing in and let go of the breath I'd been holding for some reason. What was with him lately, anyways? More terrified than usual. _Weeeeirdo._

I pushed that out of my mind and looked down at Ukraine's letter. Her handwriting was so tiny… but a lot neater than mine. At least it was legible. I opened the envelope and slid a thin piece of paper into my hand.

_Dear Brother,_

_How have you been lately? Raivis was in tears when I asked him, so I'm not really sure what to think! Anyways, my boss said it might be good if we… reconciled. I would really like it if you could come to visit for a while. I still miss you all, you know! Natalia is also here, and she's hoping you would be able to make it. We could finally have everyone together again, if even for a little while._

_Oh, and I have a dog now! His name is Chaka. He's HUGE._

_Love,_

_Ukraine_

I folded the letter and shoved it in my pocket, smiling. Ukraine loved animals, especially the furry ones. I'd never really gotten along with them, but that was okay. Maybe Chaka would like me, even.

Of course I wanted to see my sisters again—so maybe Natalia was terrifying, but still—it'd been years since all three of us were in the same place. If Raivis had remembered to ask him, and as long as he hadn't died of fright or something, Toris would be able to take a reply to the post office for me. I found a random pen hiding in the fold of my scarf (wait, when did I put that there?) and tore a sheet of paper from the nearest notepad.

**Dearest Syestra,**

**I got your letter. Raivis was almost crying then, too. I wouldn't worry about it much. Of course I would like to visit you! It's been too long, and perhaps we could become comrades again if our bosses allow it. I miss you both.**

I stopped for a second, pen held halfway off the paper. Well, I didn't exactly miss Natalia's carving knife, but that didn't matter.

**If it's convenient, I'll try and get out sometime within the week. Give Nata my love.**

**VsegO nailUchshego,**

**Ivan**

Okay, good enough. Hopefully she could read that… or most of it…

"Toris!" I turned halfway to shout out the window, sealing an envelope at the same time. "Are you out there?"

"Over here, Mr. Russia!" he waved, brown hair blowing in his eyes from the wind outside. "Raivis told me you needed something."

"Da! Can you take this to the post office? I have some other things to do, and I want to get it to Ukraine quickly." I leaned over the windowsill and passed the envelope to him.

"Sure! Oh, that's right. Miss Ukraine talked to me about asking you to visit. I must have forgotten… ha…" Toris took a small step back.

I stared at him, smiling slightly. "No, that's what she wrote to me about. Don't worry. I'll probably leave in a few days, at least. Things to take care of first…"

A flicker of fear passed Toris' eyes, or maybe I imagined it. No. Definitely not.

"S-should I just take this down, then?" he grinned halfheartedly.

"Please do. Did you want to come visit Natalia and Syestra, too?"

"N-no, that's alright! I should watch Raivis, he gets in so much trouble lately…" Toris was obviously tempted to grab at any chance to see Natalia, but he definitely didn't want to be stuck with me when there was another choice. "You should go alone, I'm sure you want a vacation from us!" _More like you need a break from me, Toris_.

I blew a strand of beige-ish hair from my face. _Believe me, I would love a vacation from myself as well. But we can't all get what we want, can we?_ "Of course. Thank you." I ducked under the window again and watched him run to his car. The old thing ran better than Raivis tried to make it for a secondhand car… unfortunately for Raivis. He didn't have as many excuses since I could always rule "helping with Toris' car" out of his list. It was a pretty good list, too. At least it would be if I didn't already know he had nothing to do. _Except for maybe steal my vodka._

But that was definitely worse than nothing, for both him and the vodka.

I sighed and tugged on the ends of my scarf. They were frayed slightly from age… how long had I worn this, anyways? Forever. At least, a very, very long time.

I heard Eduard shouting something outside, his voice rising in pitch considerably. I wondered with amusement if Raivis had stuck a "kick me" sign to his back again. That had been fun, walking through the market waiting for someone to kick him… I'd been about to do it myself when Poland—we called him Feliks—walked up and took care of the task. After than I would have felt like it wouldn't be fun anymore since someone else had taken a boot to him. Some day…

"No, it's not the same! That one said "slap!" Yes, there was Raivis explaining this version of the sign. Sometimes I liked the kid, other times…

I let my eyes pass over a small photograph of my sisters unconsciously, picking it up with one gloved hand. Natalia rarely smiled, but this was one of those times. Ukraine had a crown of flowers in her hair, dainty violets contrasting brightly with her short blond bangs.

I set it back down again gently. I would be seeing both of them soon again, maybe even within a few days. That was exciting. I missed being able to talk to Ukraine more than I could say since our bosses started to hate each other. And now I had the chance!

I realized that for the first time in a long time, I was actually, really happy about something.

Without having to kill someone.

* * *

Alrighty! My first... Russia's Family thing! Woohoo! Anyways, I own none of these characters. However, the story is mine and I'm kind of enjoying this. For once. Oh, and expect much historical inaccuracy. I am not going to learn Russian, travel to Ukraine, or take some nice history lessons any time soon, unfortunately. Though it would be awesome if I could. So some setting and events will have no relation to anything, and I apologize in advance to people who actually know what these places look like. D:

I didn't give Ukraine a "real" name because as far as I know, there isn't an official one. I'll try and do my best to keep everybody remotely in-character, and almost all of my information I get from the Hetalia archives. That place is like Candyland, seriously.

Um.

Okay, I live off of comments, critique, flames, and trolling. But especially the first two, and sometimes the third. So please, feel free to leave any of them! I love getting feedback on my hard-written everything! Anyways, please do enjoy reading _Matryoshka_, as it is my current baby~


	2. Chapter 2

Oh ho ho, I'm back already! Anyways, we all know lame little me owns no characters here. Just the story. Now that that's out of the way, please read and critique~! I'll love you forever and... Chaka will, too!

Actually, wait. I DO own Chaka. Nobody else, though. c:

* * *

The ear-splitting whistle of a train screamed in my ears, but I hardly heard as I scanned the station for Ukraine. She said to meet her under the clock tower, but I couldn't see any tower… anywhere. Just a million people and a million walls, maybe more than a million. I saw none of them, however, because none of them was my sister, I didn't care much who they were past that.

The train screeched to a shuddering halt and I jumped up, jolted by the sudden stop. I never had liked trains much…

"_Whruff!_"

I leaned out the window and stared down at the biggest sheepdog I had ever seen in my life. Its nose, chest, and paws were pure white. The rest of it was so dark black it was almost blue—except for two small ginger spots above its eyes like eyebrows. It gazed back at me with liquid chocolate eyes.

"_Warf! Woof!_"

"Hi, Dog. You're a big puppy, aren't—" I broke off, squinting to make out the name on his collar. I couldn't hold back a huge grin. I remembered that name from Ukraine's letter. "You're Chaka, then. Where's Ukraine-Syestra?" I reached down and patted Chaka's head.

He wheezed a little—or panted, maybe—and licked my fingers. I laughed. For once, there was an animal that liked me. What a thought.

I rubbed his ear again one more time before stepping into the isle, cramming myself between two impossibly fat old ladies and half-suffocating, half-drowning my way to the platform. At least I didn't have much to carry.

Chaka had walked around to the stone island, tongue lolling and wide eyes staring at me imploringly. _Pets? Pets? _I was almost positive I could hear him speaking.

Then again, I _was _supposed to be insane. Or something like that...

I combed my fingers through the thick ruff on the back of his neck, making little valleys and mountain ranges in his fur wherever I touched. Chaka pressed himself to my leg and hworfed, grinning lopsidedly. I continued to watch for Ukraine, figuring that if her dog was here, so was she.

"Can you show me the clock tower, Chaka?" I felt kind of odd, talking to a dog around so many people, but Chaka wagged his tail and padded through the mass of travelers like the square was empty. I weaved in after him, constantly having to jump back from carts laden with other people's baggage.

After about eight nearly toe-crushing collision courses, I was finally far enough from the other towers to spot a clock stuck to the tallest one. It was nothing amazing, just a simple white disc with black hands and rusty numbers around the rim. It was almost seven o' clock in the evening, contrary to the lightness of the sky. It looked like midday to me.

"_Hwoof!_" Chaka nibbled on my scarf.

"_Nyet_, no!" I pulled it back. "This is special! Don't eat it!"

Chaka whined.

I huffed and patted his head consolingly. "Just leave it alone, please."

"Ivan! Over here, Brother!"

Both Chaka and I looked up.

"Syestra!"

"_Arfrarfuff!_"

I waved to Ukraine, picking out her short blond hair above all others. I could see her friendly blue eyes glittering even from here—I hadn't even realized how much I missed them.

Chaka bounded ahead, swimming through the crowd to reach his mistress. I followed more slowly and trampled less people, but I might have heard someone scream when I stepped on something unusually soft for pavement.

"Hi, Ivan!" Ukraine hugged me, laughing. "It's been a while."

"Hello." I kissed her cheek, not really caring that we weren't exactly supposed to be near each other with our bosses so tense. _Keh! They aren't watching! _"I missed you, Syestra."

"Me too! Oh, Natalia's still at my house, waiting. I think she had mixed feelings about coming out here…" Ukraine's normally cheerful smile faded slightly. She perked up again in seconds. "But you made it in one piece! Chaka seems to really like you, too," she giggled.

I glanced down at the sheepdog, who kept moving back and forth between Ukraine and me. "He does? That's… great." I petted Chaka with one hand and picked up my bag again with the other.

"A-ah! I'm sure you want to get out of the crowd, though. Come on! Chaka, lead the way!"

Ukraine grabbed my wrist and pulled me down the street after her dog, laughing and telling me all about what I'd missed during out separation. "… And I've finally got enough money again; Natalia's been so helpful, too! I taught Chaka to get the mail as well, oh—and there are sunflowers growing in the field behind my house. I left them there because I remembered you really like them. I've got so much to show you, Brother!"

For a while, I felt like we were kids again: Ukraine running in zigzags down a bustling street, me being dragged behind. Just like she always did. _Not much has changed, really…_

"Brother?" a pair of deep blue—almost black—eyes gazed at me from behind the door of Ukraine's house.

I forced myself to smile. "Hi, Nata."

"Brotherrr!" she threw herself on me, arms wrapped around my neck.

"Gah! What—"

"I'm sorry I didn't stay with you like I said. I had to come help Sister." Natalia wasn't smiling, she rarely did, but I could tell she was happy. I patted her head awkwardly, struggling to breathe. She was crushing me.

Who knew such a small girl could be so _strong? _"Nata, I'm dying…"

She jumped back like I'd caught her sleeve on fire. I took a deep breath and turned to Ukraine, who was nuzzling Chaka.

"You're a good boy, you are!" she tapped his muzzle and laughed. "And so friendly. Chaka, Chaka, let's show Ivan our house!" Ukraine grabbed my hand again, dragging me inside.

I stumbled and tried to stand up. "Syestra, I can walk!"

Ukraine released me (why was everyone so grabby today?) and continued on her way. Natalia stayed glued to my other arm, refusing to let me out of her sight even for a moment. I know it was useless to try and convince her to get off, so I let her cling. At least she didn't make me carry her…

"_Hwuff!_" Chaka scratched at a door some ways down the hall, switching his gaze from Ukraine to me to the door again every few seconds.

"Right, so I'll stick you in this room." Ukraine pointed at it. "Natalia can move upstairs with me." She glided over to her dog and pushed the door open, letting him trot inside to explore.

I nodded. "Okay, thanks."

Chaka barked.

Natalia loosened her death grip on my arm slightly and allowed me to follow him in, setting my bag in the corner.

It wasn't dark and huge like everything was back home—rather the opposite. Light blue paint was peeling slightly from the walls, but only in a few places. I could see another layer of beige paint underneath in the corners. I assumed Ukraine used this room as a study—there was a simple oak desk against one wall, and a sofa bed on the other. A vase of flowers I'd never seen before stood in a glass vase by the window, overlooking a massive field of green and gold.

I stroked Chaka's head. "You have a very nice house, Ukraine. I'd forgotten."

She smiled gratefully. "It took a long time to get things back together, but I'm glad everything worked out."

I nodded. "I… da." There wasn't much of a reason to bring up our last encounter. I turned to look at my sisters.

"Does the weakling Lithuanian still have a crush on me?" Natalia asked bluntly.

I cracked a grin. "Toris always, always will, Nata. You can count on it."

"Hmm." My younger sister examined her hand thoughtfully, as if imagining the best way to break the fingers on Toris' _other _hand the next time they met.

I didn't want to think of what she would do to him if he were ever unfortunate enough to get a next time.

"Oh, I almost forgot! You have to see the sunflowers we grew out back! They're gigantic!" Ukraine held her arms apart to demonstrate the size of her plants.

Before I could even think of something to reply, she was gone from the doorway and still talking to me from the hall.

I blinked.

"She's very happy to have you back," Natalia said quietly. "So am I."

I started when she slipped her fingers over mine. _But... She was just standing by the other wall!_

"It's nice to see her so happy again…" I remembered how desperate Ukraine had been to form an alliance with someone to try and pay back my country for oil then. She's declared us unrelated, mainly to save us both the awkwardness of having to demand payment and not being able to give. But she was fine now, and so cheerful. I liked it when she was happy.

"Yes. It would be even nicer if you would marry me," Natalia pressed.

I flinched. "But I can't!"

Nata seemed to realize it was pointless to argue now and instead nodded to the door. "Sister is probably wondering where we went. Come on."

I followed her out, a million thoughts swimming around my mind. Natalia really was beautiful—I would never deny it. _But to marry your own siblings…_ I frowned. It just seemed wrong. But I knew well enough she would never change her mind.

_Quite like Toris,_ I thought, amused.

"Over here!" Ukraine called, waving. She held the stem of the tallest sunflower I'd ever set eyes on like a flagpole and smiled.

I glanced at Natalia, watching her run up to Ukraine and say something. Then something amazing happened: she laughed. Natalia Arlovskaya laughed, smiling and spinning under the flower.

Chaka cannoned into Ukraine, licking her face and yapping excitedly. She ruffled his ears and pulled Natalia down with her, both girls falling under the attack of the puppy tongue.

I shrugged and flopped down next to the three, content to just be with my family for a while. Because that's what we were right now, I figured.

Not countries, or allies, or anything. Just family.

* * *

So a quick note before I run off again. I re-read and fixed some formatting mistakes, typos, the like. Changed some words, but nothing super-drastic, so eh. Yep.

This is getting so sickeningly fuzzy. I apologize for being full of awful...

B-BUT IT'S FUN IN AN ODD WAY SOOOO. THAT'S ALL.

*Suffocates in her own fail*


End file.
